Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

====Eastern Bloc====
[[File:EasternBloc BasicMembersOnly.svg|thumb|[[Eastern Bloc]] during the Cold War]]

After the war, Stalin sought to retain Soviet dominance across Eastern Europe while expanding its influence in Asia.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=492}} Cautiously regarding the responses from the Western Allies, Stalin avoided immediately installing Communist Party governments in Eastern Europe, instead initially ensuring that Marxist-Leninists were placed in coalition ministries.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=494}} In contrast to his approach to the Baltic states, he rejected the proposal of merging the new communist states into the Soviet Union, rather recognising them as independent nation-states.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=517}} He was faced with the problem that there were few Marxists left in Eastern Europe, with most having been killed by the Nazis.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=483}} He demanded that war reparations be paid by Germany and its Axis allies Hungary, Romania, and the [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak Republic]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=484}} Aware that the countries of Eastern Europe had been pushed to socialism through invasion rather than revolution, Stalin called them "people's democracies" instead of "dictatorships of the proletariat".{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=518}}

Churchill observed that an "[[Iron Curtain]]" had been drawn across Europe, separating the east from the west.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=279|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=503}} In September 1947, a meeting of East European communist leaders established [[Cominform]] to coordinate the Communist Parties across Eastern Europe and also in France and Italy.{{Sfnm |1a1=Conquest |1y=1991 |1p=286 |2a1=Service |2y=2004 |2p=506 |3a1=Khlevniuk |3y=2015 |3p=267}} Stalin did not personally attend the meeting, sending [[Andrei Zhdanov]] in his place.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=506}} Various East European communists also visited Stalin in Moscow.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=511}} There, he offered advice on their ideas; for instance, he cautioned against the Yugoslav idea for a [[Balkan Federation]] incorporating Bulgaria and Albania.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=511}} Stalin had a particularly strained relationship with Yugoslavian leader [[Josip Broz Tito]] due to the latter's continued calls for a Balkan federation and for Soviet aid for the communist forces in the ongoing [[Greek Civil War]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=286–287|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=515}} In March 1948, Stalin launched an anti-Tito campaign, accusing the Yugoslav communists of adventurism and deviating from Marxist–Leninist doctrine.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=515}} At the second Cominform conference, held in Bucharest in June 1948, East European communist leaders all denounced Tito's government, accusing them of being fascists and agents of Western capitalism.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=516}} Stalin ordered several assassination attempts on Tito's life and even contemplated an invasion of Yugoslavia itself.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=287}}

Stalin suggested that a unified, but demilitarised, German state be established, hoping that it would either come under Soviet influence or remain neutral.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=507}} When the U.S. and UK opposed this, Stalin sought to force their hand by [[Berlin Blockade|blockading Berlin]] in June 1948.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=280|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=507|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=281}} He gambled that the Western powers would not risk war, but they airlifted supplies into West Berlin until May 1949, when Stalin relented and ended the blockade.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=507|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=281}} In September 1949 the Western powers transformed their zones into an independent [[Federal Republic of Germany]]; in response the Soviets formed theirs into the [[German Democratic Republic]] in October.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=507}} In accordance with earlier agreements, the Western powers expected Poland to become an independent state with free democratic elections.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=476}} In Poland, the Soviets merged various socialist parties into the [[Polish United Workers' Party]] (PZPR), and [[vote rigging]] was used to ensure that the PZPR secured office.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=515}} The 1947 Hungarian elections were also rigged by Stalin, with the [[Hungarian Working People's Party]] taking control.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=515}} In Czechoslovakia, where the communists did have a level of popular support, they were elected the largest party in 1946.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=512, 513}} Monarchy was abolished in Bulgaria and Romania.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=513}} Across Eastern Europe, the Soviet model was enforced, with a termination of political pluralism, agricultural collectivisation, and investment in heavy industry.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=516}} It was aimed at establishing economic [[autarky]] within the Eastern Bloc.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=516}}